


The Sound of Music

by troublesomegay



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Sound of Music, Alternate Universe - The Sound of Music Fusion, Jewish Jack Zimmermann, M/M, no homophobia because I'm gay and I say so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 10:36:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16617344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/troublesomegay/pseuds/troublesomegay
Summary: Eric Bittle, postulant at an Austrian abbey, becomes a tutor in the home of widowed father of seven, Captain Jack Zimmermann, and brings a new love of life and music into the home.The sound of music, but Check, Please!





	The Sound of Music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by hero-smitten.tumblr.com who brought to my attention the devastating nonexistence of this AU.

He climbs a tree and scrapes his knee, his cossack has a tear.  
He waltzes on his way to Mass and whistles on the stair.  
And he thinks that we won’t notice all the product in his hair!  
I’ve even heard him singing in the abbey!  
He's always late for chapel-  
-but his penitence is real.  
He's always late for everything-  
-except for every meal.  
I hate to have to say it, but I very firmly feel: Eric's not an asset to the abbey.  
I'd like to say a word in his behalf: Eric makes me laugh.

How do you solve a problem like Eric?  
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?  
How do you find a word that means Eric?  
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!  
Many a thing you know you'd like to tell him,  
Many a thing he ought to understand.  
But how do you make him stay?  
And listen to all you say?  
How do you keep a wave upon the sand?  
Oh, how do you solve a problem like Eric?  
How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

 

Eric stood in the dark, austere hallway outside of the abbot's office, fidgeting with the sleeves of his cassock while he waited. He’d done it this time, running away to frolic in the hills like a child. He knew it was against the rules -- as a postulant he was supposed to stay in the abbey, learning and working alongside the monks he was training to join. But the strong scent of the autumn air was irresistible, something calling him into the hills he’d grown up in. Something wild in him balked at the confines of the abbey, wanting to be free. Which was exactly why he was at the abbey. On his own that something had only gotten him into trouble. Luckily for his clothes he wasn’t forced to wait long; the fabric was already dangerously close to fraying from his anxious habit.

Brother Anthony, the Master of Postulants, exited the office, keeping the door open behind him. “You can go in now,” he said, resting a hand on Eric’s shoulder. Eric felt a bit of his anxiety fade in the soothing presence of the man who supported him, despite all his transgressions. Brother Anthony had always been a friend to him, patiently teaching him all the things he would need to know if he joined them as a monk. The man never lost his temper, even when Eric made a mess of things or got distracted from his tasks and lessons.

Eric nodded and entered the office, keeping his eyes on the floor.

When the door had shut behind him, the abbot called out to him, “Come here, my child,” and beckoned with his hand.

Eric approached the familiar wooden desk, bowing and kissing the old man’s hand.

“Now sit.”

Eric obeyed, but as he sat he felt the words bubbling up from his throat in an unstoppable wave. “Reverend Father, I’m so sorry for missing chapel! I couldn’t help myself. The gates were open and the hills were beckoning and I -”

“I haven’t called you here for apologies, Eric,” the abbot interrupted. He paused for a moment before continuing, “When you came here, I don’t think you were prepared for the way we live, were you?”

“Well, no, Father,” Eric admitted. “But I pray, and I try, and I _am_ learning, I really am!”

“And what is the most important lesson you have learned here, my child?”

“To find out what is the will of God and to do it wholeheartedly,” Eric said with a small smile, pleased that he knew the answer to a question. All too often he didn’t have a clue how to answer the questions asked of him.

The abbot sighed. “It seems to be God’s will that you leave us, Eric.”

“Leave?” he cried. “Please don’t send me away, Father! I need to be here, this is my home, my life!” He couldn’t be trusted to leave the abbey. Left to his own devices, without the structure and rules, who knew what trouble his mind would get him in.

“But are you truly ready for this life?” the abbot asked.

“Yes!” Eric insisted. He had to be! What other choice did he have?

“This life is one of obedience. Perhaps if you go out into the world for a time, knowing what we expect of you, you will have the chance to see if you can expect it of yourself.”

Eric opened his mouth to argue, but the abbot raised a hand, silencing him.

“There is a family near Salzberg that needs a tutor until September,” the elderly man said, looking down at a paper on his desk.

“September? But that’s nearly a year!”

The abbot peered over his glasses disapprovingly at the interruption. “To care for and instruct seven children.”

“Seven?” Eric exclaimed, leaning back in his seat.

“I know you like children, Eric. I will tell Captain Zimmermann to expect you tomorrow,” the abbot said, picking up his pen and beginning to write.

Eric couldn’t hold his tongue. “Um, _Captain_?”

“Yes, a retired officer from the Imperial Navy. A fine man and a brave one. His wife passed away a year ago, leaving him alone with the children. He pulled the children out of school to be educated at home, and I understand he’s been having a most difficult time keeping a tutor there.”

Eric’s eyes widened. “A- a difficult time, Reverend Father?”

The abbot smiled. “The Lord will show you in due time.”

Eric scowled, but for once managed to hold his tongue. It seemed he was going to be a tutor, whether he liked it or not. 


End file.
